The Chosen
by Santiel
Summary: All that's left behind them is a smouldering crater where their lives used to be... All that's ahead is a cheap motel and uncertainty. What's next for our scoobies? Can they rebuild? Or are some apocalypses just too horrific... *first fic, reposting from a long time ago, please please review*
1. The Crater

Wise green eyes watched as the girl unfolded herself and stumbled down the steps of the bus. His throat constricted as he saw what no one else did, amidst the noise and congratulatory laughter, her face was drawn and her eyes tired. Blonde hair tumbled around her face in disarray, blood from the wound on her head mingled with dust and tears that she had tried to wipe away. He watched her push it all aside and force happy words from her lips, much like she had done in the school when talking about shopping trips, they had all played the part, even him, he had even quoted himself, "the earth is definitely doomed". But it had felt empty, none of them had expected to make it out of that place alive, indeed not all of them had.

As he watched her, lost in his reverie, he realised she was looking at him curiously, her hazel and green eyes looked almost amber in the setting sun, and not for the first time, he saw the fire and the power in them that set her apart from the crowd. _Slayer,_ he thought, unconsciously echoing the Vampire's pet name. He smiled cautiously at her, and was pleased to see her return the smile, but it wasn't really a smile, it was the same smile as before, the rueful, slightly hysterical smile she had worn as she looked out over the abyss that was her hometown. While the others had rejoiced, he had seen her thoughts. Her mother, Angel, her home, her life, Spike; all swallowed up by the thing she had spent a lifetime trying to destroy. A wave of sadness tightened his gut and he looked away.

"I'm hungryyyy!" Whined Dawn, breaking the silence that had fallen. They were stopped at a motel about 4 hours drive from the crater that was Sunnydale. Giles surveyed them all with a crooked grin, realising the mess they looked. Andrew was busily detailing the things he wanted to eat to Dawn, who was rolling her eyes and trying to get the dust out of her hair by running her hands through it and making it stick out on end. She was darting furtive glances at Xander as if trying to gauge how to approach him. Xander was playing with his eye patch, trying to get it to stay on straight, he was shifting his feet and not really looking at anybody, Giles felt a huge urge to hug the boy, but knew that it was too soon for emotions, if they started now they may never stop. His gaze fell on Faith, tenderly patching up Robin, he suppressed a smirk and quickly looked away to Willow. Unusually quiet, she looked as if she had just gone swimming in a pool full of frogs. Her eyes were slightly glazed and she looked nauseous. Giles sighed and reached for his glasses. They weren't on his face. He sighed again and chalked up another casualty of war.

"Right, lets all get inside and get rooms. Andrew can you round up the potentials and pair them off? We'll sort rooms out for them in pairs. Buffy?...Buffy?" She snapped out of her trance and looked up at him.

"Yeah? Uh, sorry Giles, I spaced."

"Can you sort rooms out for all of us, Andrew is sorting the potentials. "

"Sure, but where will you be?" A flicker of concern passed over her face and he hastened to reassure her by pointing over the road to a Mickey D's.

"I'll be hunter gathering, I'll meet you back here. One of you can come out to me and let me know which rooms are whose."

"Oh okay, sounds good, I'll bet everyone's tummies are feeling a bit rumbly, I'll come out and wait for you." She turned around then and started herding everyone inside. He frowned at her vagueness, but then chided himself, he had to remind himself that he was the only one not to have lost anything in this battle. His remorse for what was lost could be nothing compared to the others'.

He sauntered over the road and walked through the glass doors, smiling inwardly at the shocked looks on the faces of the people inside. He looked down at his ripped trousers and bleeding hands. He knew how he looked.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay? How did you get out?"

He looked up, puzzled, at the waitress who had spoken to him from the counter.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry, I just assumed, well, I-I-I, were you from that town? The one that got all shook up by the quake?" She pointed to the TV on the wall and turned it up with a remote.

"No-one yet knows if there are any survivors" A news reporter was saying from a live feed at the crater, helicopters whirred overhead and dust was still settling on his shiny black suit. "A massive earthquake, unlike any known to these parts of Southern California has consumed this small town, leaving no buildings still standing. This huge hole in the ground behind me is all that remains of the town that was once Sunnydale. Not even the great quake of '34 caused this much damage. Our thoughts are with the families that are grieving at this tragic time. I'm joined now by seismologist Jim Hunter from..." with that the waitress muted the TV again.

Giles sighed and once again reached for his absent glasses. Deciding to clear his throat instead, he looked at the kindly waitress.

"Yes, I think we are all that's left of Sunnydale. We managed to get out just as the quake hit. It was a miracle. "He smiled.

"Yes, yes it was. My God. The angels must have been looking down on you. "

"Something like that" Giles fought back another smile.

"You said we, are there more?"

"Yes there are about 15 or so of us, I left them over at the motel to get rooms while I came to get food. At least I saved my wallet." _If not my glasses_ he thought to himself.

"You won't need your wallet here sir. I have a miracle standing in front of me, I am not charging you for food and coffee, God may never forgive me!" She exclaimed, her eyebrows rose into the teased back blonde hair on top of her head.

"Oh, well that's extremely kind of you, thank you very much." Giles was greatly touched by this motherly woman, if a little amused.

He wandered back over the road, struggling with the 3 big bags of food, and balancing 2 trays of drinks. Buffy ran over to him and relieved his trays and a bag, performing a balancing act with her hands and the trays that only the Slayer could achieve.

"Come on Giles, let's feed the five thousand. Hair could fly if they don't get fed soon." She rolled her eyes in an attempt at her old Buffy humour, but he could see that that Buffy was gone now, a woman, battle scarred and careworn stood in her place, and he felt a new respect and admiration for her rising inside him. Falling into step with her they walked into the motel and gave each potential a drink and some food before coming to the last door.

"Buffy? This is the last room in the Motel, where are the others?"

"What others?"

"Well Dawn, Andrew, Willow, Xander? " Faith and Robin had their own room but were asleep in each other's arms when Buffy had cracked the door open to offer food.

"In here! Where else would they be?" She looked genuinely surprised at his question, and he realised that this was going to be a long night.

Opening the door he was greeted by Xander laid full stretch on one of the twin beds with Andrew sitting at his feet swinging his legs. Dawn and Willow were sat on the floor brushing each other's hair with what looked like a nail brush from the motel's bathroom, and the other bed was strewn with shoes and weapons and various other assorted things that had survived the ordeal, including...

"My glasses!" Giles was overjoyed, ridiculously so in fact, but this was significant to him in huge ways. _All is not lost_ he thought to himself.

Buffy shoved the stuff from the empty bed onto the floor and started spreading out burgers and fries and coffee. The others all fell on it like vultures, Giles selected himself a box of nuggets that looked slightly less offensive than the burgers.

Once the food was gone, they all leaned back and Giles looked around the cramped room that was starting to smell of feet. It was beginning to get dark outside. Suddenly an idea struck him.

"I'll be back in an hour. I'm not going far. I, ah, just need some fresh air and to stretch my legs, I'll be fine on my own, honestly Buffy!" He said as she started to protest.

Ignoring the hurt and worried looks from the others, Giles slipped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air, and then he set off back over the road on his mission.

When he returned, about an hour and a half later, the room was in chaos. He dumped the refuse sacks he was carrying, and stared around him, bemused. Dawn was sobbing in Xander's arms; who was also blinking back tears. Willow was shaking in a corner of the room and Buffy was pacing around the room, her fear and anger evident.

"What's happened? What's going on? Is everyone alright?" His panic was coming through in his voice. What had happened?

At the sound of his voice, everyone looked up, their jaws dropping; Buffy strode over to him and slapped him the face. He lost his balance and tripped over one of the bin bags, landing in an undignified heap on the floor. Rubbing his cheek he gazed up at the Slayer and realised his mistake as she doubled up then sank to the floor, clutching him into a ferocious hug. She burst into tears and he rocked her, smoothing her hair. Before he knew it, all of them were piled on the floor in a monster hug. Buffy was mumbling wetly into his shirt.

"Don't leave us, you can't leave us, I can't do this without you, Giles please please don't leave, ohgodIcan'tdothisGilesIcan'tdothisalone please" He painfully remembered the last time she had spoken these words and the last time she had hit him like that. It was in the old factory when he had gone to hunt Angel after Jenny had been slaughtered.

Patting them all slightly awkwardly, he extracted himself from the tangle of arms and legs and stood. They all got to their feet sheepishly and looked at him. He looked right back. He saw the Witch, he saw her confusion and sadness. He saw the boy, now a man, the heart and soul of the group, his pain screaming out from every pore. He saw the lost little girl, trying to be brave and grown up. He saw the forced casual stance of the scared child who wanted to be a superhero but couldn't even work a microwave, his face scrunched up in consternation. Lastly he saw the Warrior, the protector, the vulnerable woman with tears pooling in her eyes.

"I didn't go far. I wasn't leaving you, I would NEVER leave you. Why would you think that? How on earth could you think such a thing? Good Lord! I was half an hour late!" He massaged his face again.

"Giles, I'm sorry, you were gone, and with everything, I just, well we thought you might just not come back, that you would be safer someplace that wasn't with us. I guess we overreacted, but what do you expect? After everything? You didn't say where you were going, you just LEFT!" She gulped down a sob and added as an afterthought, "Oh and I'm sorry about your face. But on the bright side, you're still conscious! It's a start!?" Buffy paused for breath and gazed up at him. "What's in the bags anyway? Brought us some garbage?"

Exhaling slowly, Giles went over to the bags and upturned them onto the bed. Amid gasps of wonder and joy, Dawn piped up first "I call the shower first!"

"Dammit! You brat, I'm so first, the power of my one eye commands it. Besides, I think I take the prize for smelliest person here, I have man-sweat to contend with!"

"Eeew gross Xander! Uh uh, no way, I DEFINETELY get to go first. I have hair to wash and, uh, well I am the youngest so I should shower first so I can go to bed early, like a,a good kid, right?" Dawn looked at Buffy for support, but Buffy was too busy rifling through the piles of clothes on the bed.

"Giles, where? How? And also EW!" She held up a ruffled blouse, "Even my dead grandmother wouldn't wear this!"

"Oh ok, well if these garments aren't good enough for you, stay in your bloodstained 'fashion victim' clothes, give me my blouse back and I will return everything. Good heavens Buffy, we averted an apocalypse and narrowly escaped with our lives and still everything has to be, ah, colour coordinated and made by Pooda?" Giles sniffed haughtily as Buffy erupted into giggles.

"Do you mean Prada? Anyway Giles, I'm not complaining, I was mocking. Remember those carefree days when we could mock without consequence and life was sweet?" She smirked at him and he allowed himself to grin at her.

"Well I popped over the road and saw a lovely lady called Gina, who has a big family, and she very kindly donated these to us. She's a waitress at the McDonalds I got our food from, and she offered to help us if we needed anything. She also gave me a map which is good, as until now I had no idea where we were. Turns out we're just outside Warner Springs. So we can either go South to San Diego, or back North to..well wherever I suppose." He smiled at them expectantly, awaiting a response.

"Ooooh, can we go to TJ? Let's go see a donkey show. I heard about those from Janice, she said her Aunt went. Do they have like actual donkeys, doing tricks and stuff? Do they wear those cute little straw hats?...What? WHAT?" Dawn whined petulantly at the uncomfortable looks from the others.

"The donkey shows are lame." Andrew interjected, then he blushed "Not that I went, Jonathon did, he told me about them, pffft donkey show, why would I go? Nuh uh, not me. No donkeys for me, ahem, anyway..."

"Well since I am not really one for the donkeys myself..."Willow turned and looked pointedly at Xander for help.

"Uh Dawn, there's no donkey's in a donkey show. But changing the subject swiftly and subtly...I don't think Tijuana is the place for us to be, OHMYGOD did I just say that?" He looked at Buffy who cleared her throat. She in turn looked at Giles, who just shrugged and raised an eyebrow at her. _You're on your own with this one_ he told her with his eyes. She glared at him before turning back to the others.

"Right, no donkey shows, no Mexico, no TJ. We need sleep and showers. We'll gather everyone in the morning and talk through our next moves over breakfast. I think that-"She stopped talking as a squeal of tyres was heard outside in the parking lot; Dawn looked outside at the sporty red car that had come to a stop in a cloud of burning rubber.

"Giles – it looks like your old car!"

"Hmmm? Oh my car? I miss that car..." he looked whimsical for a moment before ordering them all to form a calm queue for the shower and helping them pick absurd outfits for sleeping in. He smiled as Buffy and Willow giggled over who gets which football jersey to sleep in, and rolled his eyes as Buffy mourned the loss of her Yummy Sushi PJ's.

He started towards the bathroom for his turn in the shower. As he removed his glasses there was a loud thumping at the door. Immediately everyone jumped and stopped what they were doing, with Buffy on alert, ready to attack whoever came through the door.

Giles cautiously moved towards the door and swung it open, pulling the person inside and pinning them against the wall.

"OUCH! Get your smelly, vampire dust covered hands off me RIGHT NOW Giles. I thought stuffy British people were meant to have manners or something? I guess there's some things money CAN'T buy you. No. Wait. There isn't. Why are you all staring at me?" The blonde girl with the torn, bloodstained shirt glared at them all.

There was a long, tense pause, then finally Xander broke the silence and spoke...

"Anya?"


	2. Anya

"Oh, Xander, you're alive. Not dead. Oh." The ex-demon sounded strangely disappointed at this discovery.

Xander ran over and grabbed her into a huge cuddle, sweeping her feet off the ground. She pummelled him in the chest until he put her down.

"No, not dead, see?" He waved his arms around, "Still alive. You seem unhappy at this prospect, sorry that my undead-ness doesn't meet your demony expectations!" He glared at her with one eye.

Anya huffed through her nose.

"Well at least if you were dead you would have an excuse for abandoning me in that hell hole!" she turned her bunny-stopping glare to Andrew who visibly shrank from her stare and wished he was in a galaxy far far away. "And as for you..." She marched towards him, "I was _protecting_ you, and you, you ran away! Like a girl! A runtish, slightly odd, GIRL!" The pitch of her voice increased and she surveyed the slack jaws of the other Scoobies.

"I-I-I didn't run away. You-you were dead! Dead I tell you!" He pointed an accusing finger at Anya and whispered loudly to Willow, "She's the First!"

Anya pinched his arm, hard. "Um, okay, not the First" said Andrew, sulkily.

"Ummm, Anya? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but Andrew told me that you were slashed through the chest. With a knife. Umm, through the chest. Errr, Giles?" Buffy glared at him as if this was somehow his fault.

"Yes, well, I – ah – Anya? When you ceased to be a vengeance demon, did you perhaps retain some aspects of your former self? Perhaps a metaphysical –" before he could continue Buffy interrupted him with "OOOH I know this one, aspect of the demon or whatever, Anya don't worry it's not a tail, but you do start to hear thoughts and it drives you, like, totally insane, then you have to drink this blue sh-" Buffy trailed off as she realised Giles was looking at her with his hands on his hips. "Okay so this isn't one of those times where Buffy is knowledge girl, I'll shut up now."

Giles took is glasses off and polished them with his shirt, absently smearing dust and blood onto the lenses. He put them back on, blinked, frowned and took them off again, only to resume polishing furiously.

"Anyway, as I was saying, I should consult my books, but, well, you know..." He frowned as Willow giggled nervously at the first normal thing anyone had said all day.

Anya spoke up, "Well ok, so I'm not dead, but yes, there was a moment of sharp pain, and some slicing. I was picturing the bunnies like runt-boy said, and then the aforementioned slicing. I fell down, got up, and then the world was collapsing and all my FRIENDS were gone. I experienced a feeling of abandonment that I wasn't all that used to. Then I felt hungry and left. In your car that I had parked outside Sunnydale. I had planned to leave you all here to die. I was going to do the sensible thing and run away, but then RUNT-BOY had me say all this mushy stuff about humans and I stayed. Stupid really since I don't like any of you all that much." She stopped and walked over to the bed, wrinkled her nose at the burger remains, cleared the wrappers and sat down. Still glaring at everyone.

Giles cleared his throat, vaguely thinking that he might get a sore throat if he didn't stop getting so flummoxed by everyone, all this throat clearing couldn't be good for him.

"Alright Anya, thank you for that, and for bringing me the car. The one I thought I had sold when I left for England." He raised his eyebrows at her, and she looked back at him defiantly.

"Well I wasn't going to let that man have your car, you sold it to him for peanuts! I could have sold it for three times that much! So I kept it. Long story. Boring story. Anyway..." She looked at him expectantly, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and his knees gave way as he sank onto the opposite bed.

"Ok so how are you not dead?"

"Well I'm not evil if that's what you're all thinking. Evil Anya blah blah blah."She made blah blah motions with her hand as she continued "See just because I am not a vengeance demon anymore, doesn't mean being a demon for a thousand years didn't leave it's mark. It still takes more than a knife through the chest to kill me. Right Buffy?" Buffy grimaced and looked away, not wanting to remember the night she had ran Anya through with a sword.

"There's only a couple of ways to kill a vengeance demon, ex or otherwise. Vampires can, 'cuz obviously, you know, can't function without blood, yada yada. Snapped neck will do it too, those pesky spinal cords are a bit of a problem. Oh and obviously D'Hoffryn. Clappy clappy with those hands of his and poof, dead demon. I'm bored of talking about this now. I'm actually curious about what happened today with the rest of you. Huh. Weird." She looked around the room and her eyes fell on Willow.

"So Willow, you did the spell I presume. No one is flayed alive. Your eyes are normal and you aren't a walking corpse so I guess it went well? Also why is there that funny bit on your hair. You look stupid, like you have prematurely aged."

"What? Uh yeah I did the spell, it went well, th-thanks for asking, ummm" Willow gave Buffy a pained look "What's wrong with my hair?"

Buffy, glad that Willow had finally found her voice, told her that she had a lock of bright white hair running down one side of her head. Willow looked first dismayed, then proud of her weird hair-ness.

Anya looked from Buffy to Willow, then back to Buffy. Her eyes suddenly took on a softer edge and she walked towards the Slayer so she was facing her. With a rare show of tenderness she pushed a strand of Buffy's hair behind her ear and grasped her by the shoulders. A look of understanding passed between them and Anya swallowed hard. Nodding she turned from Buffy and proclaimed her tiredness to the group.

"I'm tired, where's my bed?" Dawn giggled at Anya's question, and Buffy shushed her with a look. Taking Anya's elbow she explained that it had been a group decision to all stay together that night, for reasons that they weren't entirely sure of the Scoobies hadn't wanted to be apart for the night.

Anya glanced around the room. Her brown eyes took in the peeling wallpaper. The bathroom without a lock, the two twin beds and the sagging couch. As she started to turn her nose up in disdain she regarded the others and saw the raw emotion filling their faces. Predominantly fear, along with sadness, loss and shock. Her mind flashed back to the conversation she'd had with Andrew about humans.

2\. Anya

Anya

"Oh, Xander, you're alive. Not dead. Oh." The ex-demon sounded strangely disappointed at this discovery.

Xander ran over and grabbed her into a huge cuddle, sweeping her feet off the ground. She pummelled him in the chest until he put her down.

"No, not dead, see?" He waved his arms around, "Still alive. You seem unhappy at this turn of events, sorry that my undead-ness doesn't meet your demony expectations!" He glared at her with his one eye.

Anya huffed through her nose.

"Well at least if you were dead you would have an excuse for abandoning me in that hell hole!" she turned her bunny-stopping glare to Andrew who visibly shrank from her stare and wished he was in a galaxy far far away. "And as for you..." She marched towards him, "I was _protecting_ you, and you, you ran away! Like a girl! A runtish, floppy haired, GIRL!" The pitch of her voice increased and she surveyed the slack jaws of the other Scoobies.

"I-I-I didn't run away. You-you were dead! Dead I tell you!" He pointed an accusing finger at Anya and whispered loudly to Willow, "She's the First!"

Anya pinched his arm, hard. "Jeez, okay, not the First" said Andrew, sulkily.

"Ummm, Anya? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but Andrew told me that you were slashed through the chest. With a knife. Umm, through the chest. Errr, Giles?" Buffy glared at him as if this was somehow his fault.

"Yes, well, I – ah – Anya? When you ceased to be a vengeance demon, did you perhaps retain some aspects of your former self? Perhaps a metaphysical –" before he could continue Buffy interrupted him with "OOOH I know this one, aspect of the demon or whatever, Anya don't worry it's not a tail, but you do start to hear thoughts and it drives you, like, totally insane, then you have to drink this blue sh-" Buffy trailed off as she realised Giles was looking at her with his hands on his hips. "Okay so this isn't one of those times where Buffy is knowledge girl, I'll shut up now."

Giles took is glasses off and polished them with his shirt, absently smearing dust and blood onto the lenses. He put them back on, blinked, frowned and took them off again, only to resume polishing furiously.

"Anyway, um, as I was saying, I should consult my books, but, well, rather..." He frowned as Willow giggled nervously at the first normal thing anyone had said all day.

Anya spoke up, "Well ok, so I'm not dead, but yes, there was a moment of sharp pain, and some slicing. I was picturing the bunnies like runt-boy said, and then the aforementioned slicing. I fell down, got up, and then the world was collapsing and all my FRIENDS were gone. I experienced a feeling of abandonment that I wasn't all that used to. Then I felt hungry and left. In your car that I had parked outside Sunnydale. I had planned to leave you all here to die. I was going to do the sensible thing and run away, but then RUNT-BOY had me say all this mushy stuff about humans and I stayed. Stupid really since I don't like any of you all that much." She stopped and walked over to the bed, wrinkled her nose at the burger remains, cleared the wrappers and sat down. Still glaring at everyone.

Giles cleared his throat, vaguely thinking that he might get a sore throat if he didn't stop getting so flummoxed by everyone, all this throat clearing couldn't be good for him.

"Alright Anya, thank you for that, and for bringing me the car. The one I thought I had sold when I left for England." He raised his eyebrows at her, and she looked back at him defiantly.

"Well I wasn't going to let that man have your car, you sold it to him for peanuts! I could have sold it for three times that much! So I kept it. Long story. Boring story. Anyway..." She looked at him expectantly, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and his knees gave way as he sank onto the opposite bed.

"Ok so how are you not dead?"

"Well I'm not evil if that's what you're all thinking. Evil Anya blah blah blah."She made blah blah motions with her hand as she continued "See just because I am not a vengeance demon anymore, doesn't mean being a demon for a thousand years didn't leave it's mark. It still takes more than a knife through the chest to kill me. Right Buffy?" Buffy grimaced and looked away, not wanting to remember the night she had ran Anya through with a sword.

"There's only a couple of ways to kill a vengeance demon, ex or otherwise. Vampires can, 'cuz obviously, you know, can't function without blood, yada yada. Snapped neck will do it too, those pesky spinal cords are a bit of a problem. Oh and obviously D'Hoffryn. Clappy clappy with those hands of his and poof, dead demon. I'm bored of talking about this now. I'm actually curious about what happened today with the rest of you. Huh. Weird." She looked around the room and her eyes fell on Willow.

"So Willow, you did the spell I presume. No one is flayed alive. Your eyes are normal and you aren't a walking corpse so I guess it went well? Also why is there that funny bit on your hair. You look stupid, like you have prematurely aged."

"What? Uh yeah I did the spell, it went well, th-thanks for asking, ummm" Willow gave Buffy a pained look "What's wrong with my hair?"

Buffy, glad that Willow had finally found her voice, told her that she had a lock of bright white hair running down one side of her head. Willow looked first dismayed, then proud of her weird hair-ness.

Anya looked from Buffy to Willow, then back to Buffy. Her eyes suddenly took on a softer edge and she walked towards the Slayer so she was facing her. With a rare show of tenderness she pushed a strand of Buffy's hair behind her ear and grasped her by the shoulders. A look of understanding passed between them and Anya swallowed hard. Nodding she turned from Buffy and proclaimed her tiredness to the group.

"I'm tired, where's my bed?" Dawn giggled at Anya's question, and Buffy shushed her with a look. Taking Anya's elbow she explained that it had been a group decision to all stay together that night, for reasons that they weren't entirely sure of the Scoobies hadn't wanted to be apart for the night.

Anya glanced around the room. Her brown eyes took in the peeling wallpaper. The bathroom without a lock, the two twin beds and the sagging couch. As she started to turn her nose up in disdain she regarded the others and saw the raw emotion filling their faces. Predominantly fear, along with sadness, loss and shock. Her mind flashed back to the conversation she'd had with Andrew about humans.

 _When it's something that really matters, they fight. I mean, they're lame morons for fighting. But they do. They never... They never quit._

"Ok" she sighed "I'll take the couch. Xander, you're sleeping on the couch with me. But not for orgasms. Just solace." The two shared a private moment that none of the others understood.

Buffy pulled Willow up by the hand and gestured her into the hall.

"Will, I'm a 'lil bit worried about this whole Anya thing. But I'll let it go, I just need you to keep an eye on her. Make sure she's, y'know, Anya. K?"

"Sure Buff, but it sounds right, I mean I think she's telling the truth. I wouldn't worry about it." The redheads' gaze drifted down the balcony. Buffy followed her gaze.

"Will? If you wanna go share with Kennedy then I'll understand." She was trying to be sympathetic to her friends' needs, even if she did wish Kennedy would get eaten by a big mayor-snake. _Ok maybe that's not fair, but at least some evil poison ivy or something._

"No, that's just it Buff. I don't." Willow's shoulders sagged. And Buffy suddenly realised that just because Sunnydale had been swallowed by the Hellmouth, that didn't mean their problems had been too. She sighed and took Willow's hand.

"Anything you wanna talk about Will?"

"No. Yes. Maybe. I dunno Buffy. I thought that with Tara y'know I had found my niche, then after her there was no-one, and then Kennedy, and now, n-now I'm just not sure, I feel all squicky like something's not right. I said to Kennedy once that it wasn't women it was woman. And I'm wondering if that was it, it wasn't women it was Tara. And now mostly I'm just confused. I'm sorry Buff I'm just tired. Talk tomorrow K?"

Buffy pulled her friend into a hug and then the two of them made their way back inside to fight for some sleeping space. But when they got there they found Anya and Xander on the sofa. Dawn in one bed and Giles in the other; with Andrew in the bath rolled up in some towels. All fast asleep.

Willow and Buffy exchanged a look. Willow's was pleading and Buffy's was one of eyes rolled heavenward.

"Buffy, I'm so tired and so confused, I can't deal with any more stress right now, I'm sorry." Buffy grit her teeth and nodded at Willow. Willow sagged with relief and jumped into her long t-shirt.

"Are you sure? I know this is of the bad, but a-are you sure?" Willow asked. Buffy nodded again and put her own nightclothes on, once again missing her comfy flannel PJ's.

Giles awoke feeling achy and sleepy. The sun was beginning to shine through the cheap net curtains at the dirty window. He groaned and pulled the duvet up over his face, as he rolled over to find the cool spot on the pillow, his elbow connected with something warm and firm. He froze in horror, briefly wondered where he was, if he had dreamed the Sunnydale events and whether he had been drinking, then mentally shook himself and slowly turned his head to find out who was in his bed. In doing so he remembered that he was in a cheap motel. He could make out Xander and Anya on the couch in front of him. His face finally finished turning on the pillow and his nose caught a whiff of apples from the blonde hair mussed up on the pillow next to him. Looking like an angel in repose was Buffy. Sleeping. In his bed. Feeling decidedly uncomfortable, he cleared his throat. _I wonder where I can buy lozenges_ he idly wondered. Still looking at the sleeping Buffy, he was startled out of his lozenge thoughts by a grunt. Then an unladylike snort. Both came from the girl next to him. He eyed her in amusement, then her arms began to twitch and her body became rigid, her eyelids started to flicker and he realised that she was dreaming. It wasn't until she moaned a guttural moan of fear that he reacted to her nightmare. He considered shaking her awake but thought better of it - choosing to keep his limbs intact he instead pushed the hair out of her face and whispered to her very quietly.

"It's ok Buffy. You're safe. We're all here. _I'm_ here. Nothing can hurt you." She grunted again and he snorted with mirth. He looked back down at her only to have the shock of seeing her eyes piercing his.

She smiled at him sleepily. Then before he knew it her smile turned to terror and she was out of the bed faster than he could clear his throat. Looking rather disgruntled, she hopped about from one foot to another before the realisation that had taken Giles a couple of minutes to reach hit her and she relaxed, sitting back down on the bed.

"Sorry Giles, I didn't know where I was for a minute there." She said softly.

"It's ok, I had the same panic when I woke up too. I, ah, I take it Willow went in with Dawn then?" He rubbed his eyes and felt for his glasses.

"Yeah, I was too tired to argue with her. We gonna go feed us some hungry Slayers then?" She asked as her stomach growled loudly.

"Yes right. Of course. Lets wake everyone then, we probably have a long day ahead of us."

Suddenly a loud scream was heard from one of the other motel rooms, followed by footsteps running and their door being kicked open.

"OHMYGODOHMYGOD Buffy it's Kennedy, she, she, I don't know. Come quick. Ohmygod. I might be sick. Jesus save us." Rhona, the normally taciturn sensible girl, fell to her knees and starting sobbing and praying.


	3. The shape of things to come

The shape of things to come

Buffy raced into the room Rhona was sharing with Kennedy. She stopped short, and Willow, who had been hot on her heels, smacked into her back.

"Oh my god" Buffy whispered.

"Hello Buffy, sleep well?" Said Kennedy as she morphed her face back into human form.

"Rhona what the hell happened here?" Buffy gasped, turning away from the vampire with Kennedy's face.

"I don't know, we were up a lot of the night with her being sick and complaining of stomach cramps, we finally went to sleep and I woke up and she was sleeping with THAT face on" Rhona gasped for breath.

"Oh my goddess, Kennedy what happened to you? This has to be a dream, a bad bad dream that I am going to wake up from any minute now. WAKE UP WILLOW, PLEEEASE!" Willow started to sob, and Giles appeared, taking Willow aside and asking Rhona to take her back to their room and keep her and the others there for now.

"So Buffy, killed any more little girls today? Led them into their painful deaths? Allowed them to get bitten even a little bit by some vampires?" Kennedy grinned again, mocking Buffy.

"I DIDN'T KILL ANYBODY, those girls were Slayers. And oh my god I am not going to let you get to me. You think you can get under my skin? After what the First did to us? I don't think so. Giles – stake, NOW!" Buffy held her hand out and Giles placed the stake he had brought with him into it.

"Buffy wait, don't you think we should try to find out why, or even HOW this happened first?"

"No Giles, this THING is sitting here pretending to be Kennedy, it's grotesque."

The dark haired vampire giggled; a chilling sound. "Oh Buffy, I AM Kennedy, just with sharper teeth." It morphed again, demonstrating its teeth. Buffy lunged at it, throwing it to the floor. The vampire brought its feet up and kicked her off, it's strength double that of any vampire she had ever fought, even the ubervamps. Buffy breathed in in shock. "The Ubervamps in the Hellmouth. One of them bit you, not enough to kill you, it fed you it's blood without you realising, and there we have it, uberslayervamp. Oh god, we have to – oomph" Kennedy backhanded Buffy into the wall, Buffy punched with her left then her right until Kennedy was on the floor, she straddled it and drove her stake deep into its chest. It didn't die screaming, rather it was laughing, like it knew it wasn't the last one Buffy would meet, Buffy pushed the stake further feeling bones crack with the pressure. Finally a cloud of dust was all that was left and Buffy took a shaky breath and got to her feet.

"Willow." Was all she said to Giles. He nodded and they took off towards their room.

 **Author note: I know this is a short one, but I didn't want to continue the story in this chapter, I wanted a fresh one. Please review guys, it means a lot to me to know what you think. Any feedback will do :) More to come if you want it!**


	4. The Nightmare

Willow's sobs had quieted to a raspy sort of gulping. Dawn was rubbing her back and looking at Xander who was angrily staring out of the doorway. Buffy and Giles were just sat looking at each other and Anya was tapping her feet.

"How long do we have to sit here for? I'm bored and still very hungry."

"Anya! Jeez." This from Xander, who took her elbow and started taking her out of the room.

"No she's right." Xander looked up at the sound of Buffy's voice. "We can't just sit here like this, everyone needs to eat, and we need to round up the girls and start figuring out what to do next. Where's Andrew?"

"He went with Rhona to wake up the other girls. He said to meet him in the breakfast room." Xander helped Dawn get Willow into bed, and the rest of them started making their way to the breakfast room, most of them having pulled on some socks and shoes. No one noticed the way Willow's eyes were clouding over.

It was like falling; she could hear the ocean in her ears and feel her feet being swept from under her. Nothing in her life could have prepared her for this, the losses she had endured. She just wanted to curl up and die like the others, never to be seen again. Never to feel, never to cry, never to hurt. _Oh god is it me? Is it something I do? Am I paying for something? Did I do something SO wrong that I have to be punished for it over and over and over again? I can't take it anymore, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I give up now, I take it all back, take it all back now please please._ Willow doubled over as the pain intensified. She vomited until there was nothing left inside except the pain. Laying her head down on the floor, she passed out into a dreamless lack of consciousness.

In the breakfast room, Buffy was holding court as the group gathered round with their barely touched plates of breakfast.

"I know it's hard, I know it hurts and I know we thought it was all over, but clearly it's not. Something is among us, we don't know what it is or how it's going to manifest. Giles is working out a way to test all of us to make sure we are safe, and if we're not?...well he is going to work out a cure for that too." Giles shifted uncomfortably and looked at her; she ignored his look and continued.

"We're all tired and emotionally drained. I know. We just have to fight this just a little longer and then we're outta here, but we can't leave until the tests have been done and we know who's safe, so please don't go anywhere, stay in your rooms, all together please. Watch each other, sleep in shifts if you're tired, eat when you're hungry. Try not to panic or freak out. It'll be ok just stay calm...what is it Xander?" She glanced over to Xander who was waving his hand in the air.

"I just wanted to say that we should try and be careful around Willow, she's gonna take this pretty hard. We need to watch her carefully and be there for her but not crowd her" he swallowed and fought back the wave of grief he felt for his friend. Buffy smiled thinly and nodded at him. "Right" she said, "Giles and me'll go out for supplies, Xander and Anya – watch the others, Dawn, just stay with Willow ok?" Dawn nodded and took off with a Bagel to check on Willow.

"Come on Giles, looks like it's you, me and the ultimate driving machine again..." Giles grabbed the keys from the table where Anya had put them and guided Buffy out of the door. They climbed into the car and looked at each other for a moment.

"Giles?"

"What is it Buffy?"

"Will it ever get easier?" She had such raw emotion on her face that he didn't know what to do except attempt some bitter humour.

"What do you want me to say Buffy?"

"Lie to me."

"Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after." He patted her on the shoulder.

Buffy gave him a teary eyed smile and shared the joke. "Liar." She said.

Giles put the car in gear and drove off towards the horizon, a part of Buffy wished they didn't have to go back, that they could keep driving and put this nightmare behind them, in the past like a bad dream, but she knew she had to go back, to be Slayer, sister, friend and protector to these people she had sworn to guard.

"Willow? Will? Are you awake?" Dawn rushed into the room and it was like Tara all over again, Willow was lying on the floor in the foetal position, not moving, deathly still, lying next to a pool of her own vomit. "Xander, XANDERRR"

"What? What is it? I'm here, I'm here..." Xander ran in haphazardly brandishing a sword, which he dropped when he saw his friend's still form.

"Yo, what's all the noise about? It's still like night-time right? Oh wait no ok, more like morning time, but still, no need to yell and scream, you'll wake the baby slayers...oh..." Faith's voice suddenly grew hard. "Xand, get her up on the bed, c'mon lil sis let's get some water for her k? Someone wanna tell me what's goin' on?"

Dawn filled Faith in as they went and got some water and towel for Willow, when they returned, Willow was still unconscious on the bed, Xander was desperately trying to rouse her but nothing seemed to be working.

"She's obviously just given up. He body can't cope with what her head is feeling. Like when Buffy had her coma when Dawn was taken. She needs a mind walk. We need Willow. Oh. We need a witch. Oh wait. Maybe Buffy could do it? She's so full of herself, lets make her take the trip into Willow's head. Maybe she'll find bunnies there that..." Anya paused, "Or something. It's just a thought. Y'know, with her having the Slayer gifts and all."

"Anya, what are you talking about?" Xander threw her an exasperated glance.

"I think I know what the demon is saying. You see this one time when I was a criminal mastermind, when I headed up an evil band of outlaws with cool shoes..."

"SHUT UP ANDREW" Everyone else yelled.

"I think Anya is suggesting that Buffy enter Willow's mind and shake her out of it, just like Willow did to her, when, well, uh, when Glory took me." Dawn's wavery voice caught everyone's attention.

"That could work," said Xander

"Are you all complete morons? That's what I just said. But oh no you listen to Dawn, because she is young and her face is watering." Anya stormed into the bathroom in a huff. Faith followed her, "Look no one was saying they didn't think it was a good idea or that they didn't understand you, chick, chill ok?"

"Go away, I'm trying to pee."

"Oh ok, thanks for sharing that precious moment with me."

"It's not that precious, I do it all the time. Now please leave." Faith raised her hands in the air, "Yo I'm leavin', don't want to interrupt your me time". _Jeez that is one tense demon_.

Faith paced back into the room, she met Xander's' eye and escorted Dawn from the room.

"Giles?" The sharpness to Buffy's voice made him turn abruptly to face her.

"Something's wrong, it-it's Willow, oh Giles, we have to go back, NOW." Her anguish cut through him as he swiftly applied the brakes and made a U turn.

"Buffy? What's the matter, what do you see?" He probed gently.

"W-Willow, I think, Giles I think she's dying."


End file.
